This invention relates to the heating of a fluid disposed in a container. In particular, this invention relates devices and methods for the efficient heating of a fluid prior to its introduction into a body.
During medical care, it may be necessary to introduce a fluid into a human body intravenously. Such fluids may include, for example, blood, saline solution, antibiotic solution, and the like. Prior to administration, these fluids are usually stored in containers such as bags or bottles.
However, many of these fluid degrade at room temperature when outside of a body. Since the demand for many of these fluids is unpredictable (e.g., due to the nature of emergency conditions), it is preferable to maintain an inventory of many of these fluids within a hospital.
To prevent the degradation and to maintain the efficacy of such fluids, the fluids are conventionally refrigerated or frozen. Then, as needed, the fluids are warmed prior to their administration. In cases where large amounts of fluid are introduced to the body intravenously over a short period of time, it may be necessary to warm these fluids close to body temperature (around 98.6° F.) to prevent the patient from entering a hypothermic condition.
Conventionally, a hospital has an oven with a large capacity that heats the fluid containers prior to use. Usually, this oven is designed to have sufficient excess capacity to warm enough containers to satisfy the needs of the hospital in a worse case scenario. However, more frequently, only a fraction of the capacity of the oven is utilized. This under-utilization of the volume of the oven means that it may take longer to heat the entire volume up to the desired temperature and that energy is lost when the oven is at less than capacity.
Further, when a container is placed in the oven, it must be tagged or in some way monitored to ensure that the fluid does not stay in the oven too long and spoil. Particularly, when an oven warms multiple containers at once, there must be a system in place that determines the length of time that a particular container has been in the oven.
Hence, a need exists for an improved fluid warmer that more efficiently heats fluids prior to use in the body.